Eduard stood at his wife’s side, one hand resting in the small of her back, as they greeted the first guests. Though he smiled and bowed on command, his mind was far away, cavorting with his own visitor. After he’d spent the morning searching for Reza, of course Eduard had caught a glimpse of him as Marien steered him toward the drawing room—those dark eyes had glistened with ill-concealed mirth at his plight, and only his wife’s strong grip on his elbow prevented him from chasing Reza down. The man was taunting him, Eduard knew it, and once he was dismissed from the women’s social, he would put an end to those antics.
He’d let the crewman disappear once before. Now that he was back in his life, Eduard wouldn’t let Reza slip away again so easily.
Thoughts of Reza distracted Eduard. The
